AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING - CXVII

1. In golf, one above par is a bogey, two above par is a double bogey. One below par is a birdie, two below pare is an eagle, and three below par is a double eagle or albatross. A double eagle is extremely rare, and when it happens it's almost always a score of 2 on a par 5 hole. 

2. A roleo is a log-rolling tournament in which two people stand on the same log. They cannot cross the center line of the log or touch each other. The diameter of the logs gets smaller and smaller as the competition increases. The last one standing and in control of the log is the winner. 

3. Bunches of bananas are called hands, because a single banana resembles a finger.

4. Tucson, Arizona is the sunniest city in the United States - with an average 286 days of sunshine each year. Anchorage, Alaska is the gloomiest - with 230 cloudy days per year. In the contiguous 48 states, Portland, Oregon is a close second for gloomy days - with 222 each year.

5. The only marsupial (animal that carries its young in a pouch) native to North America is the opossum. (A raccoon is not a marsupial.)

6. Oenology (Oe pronounced as long E) is the study of wines. A connoisseur of fine wines is an oenophile.

7. A few of Marie Curie's books and papers are still so radioactive that they are stored in lead boxes.

8. The United States government is giving away lighthouses for free. GPS and other technological advances have made lighthouses less essential to navigation, and many of them have fallen into neglect or have been demolished - despite being historical landmarks and having spectacular views. Not just anyone can go and buy a lighthouse. The government requires the new owner (often an educational agency or non-profit) to be financially able to maintain the beacon and make it available to the public.

9. The oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere is in Curacao, a tiny island 35 miles off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea.  Mikve Israel-Emanuel was founded in 1651 by 12 families from Amsterdam - Sephardic Jews trying to escape antisemitism in Europe.

10. Big Ben was originally the name of only the great bell - which weighs 15 tons - not the clock or tower. The clock tower was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 in honor of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne).